LINWOOD – Don’t call Erin O’Connell the “new” field hockey coach at Mainland Regional High School, even though this is her first year as the head coach for the squad.
O’Connell, a 2013 graduate of Mainland, honed her field hockey skills on the same field her players now occupy. She returned after playing collegiately at Fairleigh Dickinson University to serve as an assistant coach.
The Mustangs, who are coming off of a 10-10-1 season a year ago, are all hers to mold in the way she sees fit. O’Connell said what she wants to see is a determined squad ready to live in the moment and engaged to give the game their best despite their current youth movement.
O’Connell’s 2022 squad is made up of mostly sophomores and juniors with a small crop of seniors.
“We are a very young team right now, which I think is a good thing,” O’Connell said. “We’re working to learn each other’s play. We’ve been working throughout the summer to kind of learn how each other plays.
“We’ve been working on knowing each other’s strengths. We’re also getting back to just the basics – our passing game and just really sticking to how to play the game.”
The Mustangs will find plenty of things they are familiar with in O’Connell and vice versa. She has already worked extensively with her team while leading the freshman and junior varsity squads during her Mainland coaching stint along with the past several years as a varsity assistant coach.
“I think that’s something that also made the transition to head coach smooth for me and smooth for the team,” O’Connell said. “They all know me. I think it was helpful to continue to have a familiar face on staff. We’re kind of moving along and not skipping a beat. We’re moving right into being prepared for the next season.”
O’Connell cited sophomore Elaina Dinofa, who played a solid role for the Mustangs as a freshman, as one of the leading returners along with seniors Grace Bean, Emily Smith and junior Paige Corbett.
“Elaina is a returner and we’re looking forward to seeing her on our front line,” O’Connell said. “We’re looking at Grace being on the forward line as well. Those two worked really well together last year. They know each other’s strengths and we know their strengths.”
O’Connell said Corbett, who is also a returning starter, is one of the Mustangs’ top defenders.
“[Corbett] has a really strong stick back there,” she said. “She does a really nice job coming up with big important stops in the defensive end and then transitioning the ball up to our midfielders.”
Mainland will pin their hopes in goal on senior Farley O’Brien, another returning starter from a year ago, and her growth at the position. O’Connell said she likes the way O’Brien has stepped up already in practice as the season approaches.
“She’s been doing really well in the goal,” O’Connell said. “We’re hoping that she continues to do so. We’re excited for her to break out of her shell a little bit in her senior year, which is cool.”
Mainland opens its season Thursday at home against St. Joseph (Hammonton). She said there are a number of games that will test the Mustangs and give them a sense of where they are development-wise as the season progresses.
“St. Joe’s is in our conference and they’re always a great competitor,” O’Connell said. “We played against them last year as well and it’s always a great game between the two teams. We play Delsea this year and they’re always a really good game because they always come out tough and ready to fight.
“We have Cedar Creek, and Lower Cape May on the schedule as well as Egg Harbor Township. All of them are always good competitors. Middle Township, as always, will have a good team and will be good competitors. Really, each game is going to be a good test for us.”
O’Connell said she is blessed with having a strong coaching staff that will help in the growth of her team this year, including fellow 2013 Mainland graduate Taylor Klever, Angela Robbins and Casey LaFerrierre. All of them have collegiate field hockey experience and bring a wealth of knowledge to the Mustangs.
O’Connell said she hopes the experience of her and her coaching staff will help raise her squad’s level of play despite their youthfulness – and her as a first-year head coach.
“As you get different coaches, you get different perspectives,” O’Connell said. “I think having coaches from the next level really helped me obviously in terms of my play, but now in terms of coaching, I hope it will bring that next level mentality to the team.”
Other Mustang team members include Isabella Barretta, Lauren Barron, Katherine Crozier-Carole, Carmela DiSanti, Sophie Goldstein, Mallory Karol, Laura Livingston, Gianna Lucca, Kathryn Melhorn, Mia Patroni, Lauren Quinn, Madison Siglin, Madison Sommers, Kaitlyn Stanchina, Emma Tomlin, Elliana Varnadore and Michaela Werber.
By CLYDE HUGHES/Special to the Sentinel
